A personal journey, surrounded by thousands

Eileen Dove and Dorothy Dove, both of New Bern, speak with a journalist from Washington, D.C., who boarded the bus in Fredericksburg, Va., to conduct interviews with the Doves and others who attended the 1963 March on Washington.

Tina Adkins/Sun Journal

By Tina Adkins, Sun Journal Staff

Published: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 06:10 PM.

Editor’s note: This is Sun Journal staffer Tina Adkins’ first-person account of last weekend’s 50th anniversary celebration of the 1963 March on Washington.

I could hardly wait for midnight Friday, Aug. 23, to get here. I was going to the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 March on Washington.

I arrived at the Eden Street parking lot at Tryon Palace about 11:10 p.m. There were several others already there. There were quite a few people who I knew and some who I had never met before. Most had pillows and blankets and bags of goodies to carry on the bus.

Once we boarded, Sharon Bryant, African-American Outreach coordinator for Tryon Palace and organizer of the trip, informed us that she would not be taking the trip with us. She would be attending her graduation from Mount Olive College on Saturday, Aug. 24, the day of the March.

There were people on the bus who attended the original March on Washington in 1963, including Dorothy Dove, Eileen Dove and Barbara Lee, just to name a few. They reminisced a little about their experiences in 1963. Eileen said that one thing she remembered was they sang freedom spirituals all the way to Washington, D.C., as passengers.

On arrival in Washington, everyone went their separate ways. My friend, Jeanette Holloway, and I headed to the World War II Memorial on our way to the National Mall. It was beautiful. From the memorial, we could see that the crowd had already filled the length of the Reflecting Pool and the lawns surrounding it.

As we headed through the massive crowd of people, I heard the speakers begin. I heard Martin Luther King III, Tom Joyner, the Rev. Al Sharpton, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among countless others. Applause and constant cheers came from the crowd.

Editor’s note: This is Sun Journal staffer Tina Adkins’ first-person account of last weekend’s 50th anniversary celebration of the 1963 March on Washington.

I could hardly wait for midnight Friday, Aug. 23, to get here. I was going to the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 March on Washington.

I arrived at the Eden Street parking lot at Tryon Palace about 11:10 p.m. There were several others already there. There were quite a few people who I knew and some who I had never met before. Most had pillows and blankets and bags of goodies to carry on the bus.

Once we boarded, Sharon Bryant, African-American Outreach coordinator for Tryon Palace and organizer of the trip, informed us that she would not be taking the trip with us. She would be attending her graduation from Mount Olive College on Saturday, Aug. 24, the day of the March.

There were people on the bus who attended the original March on Washington in 1963, including Dorothy Dove, Eileen Dove and Barbara Lee, just to name a few. They reminisced a little about their experiences in 1963. Eileen said that one thing she remembered was they sang freedom spirituals all the way to Washington, D.C., as passengers.

On arrival in Washington, everyone went their separate ways. My friend, Jeanette Holloway, and I headed to the World War II Memorial on our way to the National Mall. It was beautiful. From the memorial, we could see that the crowd had already filled the length of the Reflecting Pool and the lawns surrounding it.

As we headed through the massive crowd of people, I heard the speakers begin. I heard Martin Luther King III, Tom Joyner, the Rev. Al Sharpton, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among countless others. Applause and constant cheers came from the crowd.

The message that was clear to all of us was that we, citizens of the United States, have come far in the past 50 years, but there is still more to be done.

“Our focus has broadened to include the cause of women, of Latinos, of Asian-Americans, of lesbians, of gays, of people with disabilities and of countless others across this great country who still yearn for equality” Holder said.

It was also said countless times that Dr. King’s fight was not only for black Americans, but for all Americans. He wanted equality for everyone.

After the speeches ended, the March began. People held signs for all kinds of issues, including voting rights, lesbian and gay rights, incarceration rates and racism as they marched on the grounds where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the more than 250,000 people in 1963.

I wanted to see everything, but mostly I wanted to see the statue of King. As I walked through the large pillars of the King Memorial, I had no idea what to expect. When I looked up and saw the actual statue, tears began to fall from my eyes as I stared at the monument of this man who did so much for others … so much for me. I strolled through the Memorial reading the quotes of Dr. King engraved on the walls, each one having a profound effect on me, as if it was my first time hearing King’s words.

Across from the King Memorial, in a lot, there sat a bus. It was bright green and yellow. As I approached it, I realized it was bus number 2857, the bus on which Rosa Parks sat. I could not get on the bus, but through the windows I could see pictures of different historical events in black history, but most noticeable was the metal sign that simply said “colored”.

As Jeanette and I walked across the bridge with hundreds of others, the Jefferson Memorial sat to our right. I had no idea what it was. I had to ask somebody. After all, it was my very first trip to our nation’s capital. We were tired and quite hungry so we purchased some food from one of the many street vendors along the way. We purchased T-shirts and a few other memorabilia items as we headed back to the bus.

Everyone made it back to the bus by 3 p.m., but because of the droves of people, we could not leave until nearly 4 p.m. The ride home was filled with people expressing how they felt about the trip, laughing, singing and sleeping. I nodded a little, but spent most of the time enjoying talking with my dear friend, Carolyn Foye. We arrived back in the Eden Street parking lot at approximately 11:30 p.m., where Sharon Bryant stood to greet us.

I was not born during the March in 1963. In fact, I was born on April 5, 1968, one day after the assassination of Dr. King. However, this bus trip provided me with insight of the effect that Dr. King had on our country and its people. I had never seen so many people, of all races, ages, nationalities and religions, standing together in one place. For me, this was the experience of a lifetime and one that I will never forget.